Charitee Seebecker of Mauston, was recently awarded the title of Ms. United States Agriculture for Wisconsin.

Seebecker grew up on a dairy farm showing dairy cattle, hogs, and dogs for many years at local and state fairs. She was very active in the 4-H and FFA and served as an officer in each. She attended the University of Wisconsin Platteville where she majored in Agriculture Business with a Communications and Marketing emphasis. During her time there Seebecker was involved in the Pioneer Dairy Club, Agriculture Business Club, Ceres Women's Agricultural Fraternity, National Agri-Marketing Association, as well as participated in intramurals. She was also very involved in her community, helping with sharing suppers, Relay for Life, and park and highway clean-up.

“My experiences growing up have helped my passion for agriculture grow. “Almost every successful person begins with two beliefs: the future can be better than the present and I have the power to make it so” is the quote that I remind myself of daily. We need to invest in the youth, to invest in agriculture, to invest in the future and that is what my passion is about,” Seebecker said.

Seebecker says that passion for agriculture drives her in everything that she does and is what helped her create her platform. Seebecker’s platform focuses on educating others about where their food comes from and the importance of farmers.

“There is a lack of communication between the producers and consumers that is creating many misconceptions about agriculture. Wisconsin has lost 382 dairy farms just in the first seven months of 2018! Now more than ever we need to join forces, share our stories, and help save the last of a dying breed,” Seebecker explained.

Her goal is to tour different agricultural operations and businesses across Wisconsin and help to share their farm, family, or business history and why agriculture and farmers are important. She will use her experiences from these tours to then also help educate others where their food comes from.

Seebecker will join other contestants from all over the United States and travel to Orlando, Florida in June 2019 to showcase their platforms and compete for the honor to reign as a National Miss United States Agriculture Queen.